Rising Above
by things24
Summary: Zuko dies... sorta. He is reincarnated as an Earth bender... ok I am no good at summaries. Slash
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note:**

**Ok, I'm new at this so it took me a while to get this right(uploading and such) This is my first avatar fanfic, but my first fanfic was for One Piece(which was a legendary fail). Anyways I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, if I did I wouldn't have ended it like it did, especailly with the cliffy. So yeah, enjoy!**

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**Rising Above**

Rated T for violence

**Prologue**

Zuko panted as he ran out of the palace holding a bundle in his arms. He was dressed in the clothes that he wore when he was viewed as a traitor for joining the avatar. He hid behind a tree as the rebel soldiers ran by.

"We have to find the fire lord to kill him!" one shouted. Zuko sighed. For the past year he has been working countless days and night attending meeting and such to regain all the nations trust. Aang and the others have been supportive, but they also had other meeting to attend across the world. Just when things were actually settling down, he got word that there were rebels from the earth kingdom spreading rumors that fire nation planned to take over again. Now they had one goal, to eliminate all royalty and conquer the palace.

When the soldiers left, Zuko sank to the ground. What was he supposed to do? They had already killed Ozai and Azula. They were bond to get uncle in Ba Sing Se, his mother was presumed dead, and Mai, Mai died giving birth. Zuko looked down at his 12 hour old daughter wrapped in a red silk blanket. She wasn't supposed to be due for another week. She was sleeping, completely unaware of the danger that loomed her and her entire nation.

Zuko covered her face with a section of the blanket and ran to the center city, which was booming with explosives. Surprisingly the capitol was the most integrated city in the fire nation. Fire, Earth and Water together in one city was a huge achievement, especially in the fire nation. Zuko ran into the city unidentified. There was too much chaos. Buildings were on fire, women were heard screaming, people of all sorts running in different directions.

Zuko searched desperately for something, like a sign. He noticed a couple dress in earth kingdom attire trying to load a cart of their belongings for evacuation. They were discussing something about going up north. He ran to them. The man noticed him.

"You better get out of here, these people are killing any fire nation person they see!" he exclaimed. The woman eyed the bundle that held his daughter, and looked into Zuko's eyes.

"You want us to take the baby?" she guessed through their silent communication.

"Yes." He choked out, extending his arms out. The woman took her. The man eyed him suspiciously. The woman looked at her and spoke.

"What's the baby's name?"

"I never got a chance to name her." He whispered. He took one last look at his daughter, then turned around and ran.

Katara sat anxiously on Appa's saddle. The GAang just got the word that the fire nation palace and capital city was being attacked. It was a good thing they were on their way anyways to go to Mai's baby shower. They hoped the royal family was okay. Katara hoped _Zuko_ was okay. She has been jealous of Mai ever since Zuko told her that they were boyfriend and girlfriend. It was obvious that Katara had a slight crush on Zuko, but she was with Aang even though it has never been official. Besides, she'd hate to break the fourteen year old Avatar's heart to be with someone that was once their enemy and was already _married_ to someone else.

_Mai,_ she thought,_ what's so special about her? She's just some emotionless girl who sighs a lot! __**And **__she was one of Azula's sidekicks. 'But Zuko was the enemy too, why forgive him and not her?'_ Katara sighed. She hated the fact that she just couldn't hate anyone for no apparent reason. She looked over the saddle and gasped at what she saw. Fire erupted everywhere. There were trails of hundreds people fleeing the city. Screams of the dying were heard. Katara felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Sokka's solemn face.

"I thought the violence was over." She told him.

"We all did." He answered. Toph and Aang haven't spoken since Appa was in viewing range of the city. Aang landed Appa on a clear spot near the gates of the city, which had a giant hole in the middle of it. Aang jumped off the bison, and the GAang followed suit.

"Avatar! Avatar!" an earth kingdom man shouted, running straight towards them.

"What is going on?" the Avatar demanded.

"It's horrible! These, these earth kingdom people blew up the gates and charged in! They started slaughtering every fire nation person in their way, including women and children! We fear they've killed the fire lord; they already killed his wife we think! Just when I thought there was peace at last!" the man sighed. Katara's hands covered her mouth. Then they heard the rumble of a building going down.

"Avatar you must do something!" the man pleading, then running off to join what looked like his family.

"Come on!" Aang urged, running towards the fallen building. Toph and Sokka followed, leaving Katara at the end of the line. Aang used air bending to jump over the rumble, and Toph did the same, but with earth bending.

"Stupid bending," Katara heard Sokka mumble as she grabbed him to water bend over the rumble. There was so much fire that it burned her eyes and she coughed from the smoke.

"Aang?" Sokka shouted. There was a rush of wind and the smoke cleared. Everyone (but Toph, she can't see) gasped at the sight in front of them. Some raggedy haired person was choking a bloody fire nation person against the wall. The fire nation person looked too weak to be able to release their self from the rebels grip, but they feebly attempted to do so by grabbing the rebel's arms. Katara thought the person looked familiar…

"ZUKO!" Aang screamed, startling the person choking him, causing the person to drop him. Zuko landed on his knees. He coughed violently, blood trickling from his mouth.

"Well, well, well. Looks like the avatar and his friends won't let me kill the reason for **ALL MY PAIN!" **the person shouted turning around. Who it was shocked everyone.

"**JET?!" **they all cried in shock and relief. Then they remembered what he was doing to Zuko and the city, but they were still frozen in shock.

"Surprised? I thought it was quite obvious it was I who is running this ambush. Princey here sure figured it out," he said, kicking Zuko into the wall with surprising strength. Zuko cried out in pain and landed on the ground flat on his stomach. He slowly lifted his head to glare at Jet.

"Oh, excuse me, _your highness_" Jet said with mock apology. Zuko growled at him.

"Jet, we don't want to hurt you! You're just confused! Zuko's trying to _help _the world just like us." Aang explained. Jet's eyes burned with rage.

"_Help? __**HELP?**_ All he'd done was get me **brainwashed**!" he shouted, picking up his curved swords that were on the ground. Katara noticed Zuko's Dao swords lay somewhat near Zuko.

"There must be a misunderstanding!" Aang protested.

"You don't believe me? Fine! Ask your oh so trusted new best buddy!" Jet spat, pointing his swords at Zuko.

"He isn't lying." Toph said quietly. Aang looked at Toph to Jet to Zuko, who has a guilty expression. Jet smirked when Aang realized he wasn't lying.

"But, but, but" Aang stammered, not sure how to maintain peace.

"Well, if you excuse me, I'm going to kill the person who made my life miserable!" Jet declared. Then everything went fast. Jet went to attack Zuko, Zuko managed to get up, retrieve his swords and block the attack, Toph earth bended rocks to the spot where Jet was, Aang did the same with fire bending and Sokka had thrown his new boomerang at the same spot. Jet started to laugh manically while battling a struggling and tiring Zuko with swords. Katara rushed to aid him when the impossible happened; Jet found an opening and stabbed Zuko in the stomach area. He grinned evilly at Zuko's shocked eyes and ripped his sword out. Blood spurted out of Zuko's body. He fell to the ground, throwing up more blood. Aang couldn't contain his anger and starting throwing things from all elements at Jet, who dodged them easily. Toph aided him with earth bending, and Sokka with one of Zuko's swords. Katara rushed to Zuko's side, who was sounded like he was hyperventilating.

"ZUKO! Can you hear me? I'm going to try to-"she started, but Zuko grabbed her arm with his bloody hand.

"There's nothing you can do." He gasped. Katara's eyes started to tear up.

"But Zuko-"

"LISTEN TO ME!" he managed to shout. Katara nodded.

"Listen, I want you to make sure Jet stays as far away from the Earth Kingdom colonies up north." He said his voice raspy.

"Why?"

"Let's just say Mai's delivery came early."

"Oh Zuko, I, I don't know what to say." Katara stammered.

"Please." He begged, looking deeply into her eyes.

"Okay" she promised.

"Thank you." Zuko said softly. He looked at the others fighting Jet, failing miserably. His golden eyes looked into Katara's blue ones one last time, then they closed as he took one last breath. Then his head slid down on Katara's shoulder and she knew he was gone. Her vision was clouded with tears as she squeezed his bloody hand that never left her arm.

"My job here is done." Jet announced, throwing a little ball, causing an explosion and smoke. They stood there dazed. Toph was the first to notice that there was a heart beat missing, and that someone was sobbing…

"NO!" she screamed, turning around to face Katara. Sokka and Aang turned around and both gasped at Katara sobbing, rocking back and forth, hugging Zuko's limp figure. They rushed to Katara's side.

"Is, is he, is he d-d-d-"Sokka couldn't finish his question, for he knew the answer already. Toph punched his arm. He was going to retaliate, but saw tears streaming down Toph's face as well.

"Katara," Aang started.

"Why? WHY?" Katara cried, sobbing harder. None had an answer. They just stood there in the middle of a crumbling city. Then they all realized,

**This was just the beginning.**

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**Review! Then I'll know if you read this! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! I am so sorry about the late update. I was being lazy. I was almost finished with the chapter, but then I was away for three weeks and when I came back all my documents were gone! So I had to rewrite this chapter for the millionth time(cuz I didn't like the way it was many times and then it was deleted) and I hope you like it. BTW this chapter might be a little confusing so if you have any questions just pm me.**

**I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. All credit goes to Mike and Bryan. Except for Moku... she's my character!**

**Things :)**

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**Chapter 1**

**The Encounter**

The market place was a blur. So, being dragged by your 15 year old best friend who is technically older than you(by a month), who is also acting like a five year old, shouldn't be much trouble. Wrong.

"Satoshi! Satoshi! Look! Look!" Moku cried, pointing excitedly at the pepper stand which had just been imported from the Fire Nation "farms" for the season.

"Moku, you see them _every year! _Why must you get excited like you've never seen them before?" I complained.

"Gosh Satoshi, you're so boring! Lighten up a little!" she said, skipping to the stand. I rolled my eyes as I trudged behind her. I've always felt more like a babysitter than a best friend. Well, I was her only friend because of the fact that she looks Fire Nation. When I caught up with her, she was in the middle of her sniffing ritual. She suddenly grabbed my shirt and sneezed into it. I stood, shocked and disgusted.

"That is why you don't smell peppers!" I snapped, wrenching my booger covered shirt away from her face. She gave me the puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry To-To!(curse that nickname) Please forgive me!" she whined. I scowled. _Why, why the puppy dog face? I wonder if her parents have to go through this._ I sighed.

"It's ok, I can always wash it." I mumbled, defeated.

"Yay! Thank you To-To!" she cried happily, strangling me in a hug.

"Are you and your girlfriend buying or not?" a very gruff voice said. _I hate when people think we're together, _I thought. I pushed Moku away to look at the man. He had gray hair and ragged red clothing, _Fire Nation slave. _I felt some familairity around him. _Have I met this guy before? _

"No, we were just leaving." I said, dragging Moku be the collar.

"But Satoshi! I wanna buy one!!!!"

"I don't have money!"

"Then what's that in your pocket?"

"That's for my dinner!" She tends to forget that my dad works overtime at night, leaving me the fend for myself. A few remarks later I manage to drag her away from the stand, receiving weird looks from people in the process. Maybe now would be the time to explain some things. My name is Satoshi, as you know. I am a master earth bender. I am the only one in my school that bothered to look into the textbooks from 15 years ago to learn the way of earthbending like the earthbending master Toph Bei Fong. I have weird dreams about sinister looking people dressed in red with piercing gold eyes. Some of my dreams are happy though, like the one where I'm sitting near a pond with a nice motherly lady. Some others are weird like going to this old temple with some bald kid with a blue arrow on his head. Another thing, everything is mute in my dreams.

Enough about me though, lets talk about Moku. She is, well, unusual. She looks Fire Nation. Even though she comes from a long family line of earth benders, she's a fire bender. Only I know though. It's bad enough that her parents have to go through the rumors about her looks. Sometimes I question whether she actually their daughter by blood. She goofy most of the time, but if someone makes fun of her, she'll get mad. Really mad. There was on incident when she was so mad at a boy who said she belongs in the slave camps. I saw her eyes and I knew she was going to blow. I managed to make an earth shield around us, while Moku's hands became flames. The weirdest thing of all though is that she still claims to be "Earth Kingdom", when it's obvious that she's not. Suddenly I heard a shout and a frighten man ran through the village.

"**_He's _**here!" he shouted, "The Dictator!" gasps from several people could be heard. The "Dictator" if you didn't know, is a young guy only in his late 20's who managed to wipe out most of the Fire Nation, and leaving the rest under supervailance by his earth kingdom soldiers. He also is famous for killing the last Firelord. I think this guys an idiot for bringing fear and violence into the world when the century war has just ended. No one knows his background or even his name, but it is rumored that the Hero's of the War had known him, including the Firelord he killed. Those very same "Hero's of the War" have never been heard from anyone ever since the Dictator took over. It is also rumored he obtained some sort of power to make him difficult to defeat even with bending, since he can't bend.

Suddenly the ground started to rumble. People started to hurry to their houses. Suddenly the pepper stand we were at a few moments ago exploded. _The guy there could have been killed! _I thought. Then through the smoke some guy with a short haircut and a mustache came through. He wore green like regular earth Kingdom folk do, but with a yellow cloak or cape. He was holding a flag that was bright green with his face stitched on it. _What the hell? What is with that gay flag?_

" Bow down to the Dictator!" he commanded. _Ha ha ha! This is the "Dictator" everyone is afraid of? Please, even the most peaceful fire lord probably looked scarier than this joke._ I couldn't help it, I had to say something.

"Mister, that flag is really gay..."

"How dare you mock me!" he bellowed. Before he could do anything though, a woman cried out, tripped, and landed in front of this "Dictator" person. She trembled and tried to get up. Dictator man, glared at her, and then kicked her out of the way. Bystanders gasped, as the woman lay unconscious. Suddenly I was pushed aside by Moku. I had almost forgotten about her. Her amber eyes were burning with rage. She stopped a few feet in front of the man.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she demanded.

"Oh, is someone upset? I bet you don't even know her." retorted the Dictator.

"So? You have no right to treat someone that way!"

"And? What are _you_ going to do about it little girl?"

"I-" Moku started,"I- I order you to stop terrozing people!" she managed to say, stamping her foot in a childish manner. The man stood shocked for a moment. Then he smirked. _Does he know something?, _I thought.

"Order? What are you, some sort of royality?" he asked.

"Why you! I don't have to be important to make you stop!"

"Or maybe you're hiding how important you _really_ are." he said, with a smile. Moku stared at him, dumbfonded. _What the heck is this guy talking about? _

_"_What are you talking about?" Muko asked. The Dictator narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, that's right!" he exclaimed "I killed him before you could have possibly known! I didn't believe the rumors, but here's the living proof!" He started to laugh. Moku was stunned. I was confused.

"Finally." someone whispered. I whirled around to see the pepper guy. His eyes twinkled as he put his finger to lip to signal silence. I turned back to the Dictator and Moku.

"Come on! Show me the power of the last heir to the Fire Nation. Show me the power of the daughter of Firelord Zuko!"

Everyone was stunned. Moku's eyes widen at what was just said. For some reason I didn't seem suprised, and I had a feeling the pepper guy knew something about this. When I turned to ask if he did, he was gone. i started to worry, would the townsfolk turn down on her?

"You're on." I heard. My jaw dropped. Sure, Moku was a person who never turned done a fight, but this, this was just illogical! i did just what any friend would do,

"Moku, stop! It's too dangerous!" It was no use though. She took a fighting stance. The Dictator made a show of tossing his cape/cloak or whatever, and just stod there.

"By the way, the names Jet. Just thought you wanted to know the name of your father's killer." Jet said smuggly. Muko didn't flinch. She stared him down instead.

"Too bad he was no match for me, and neither will you." He said, closing his eyes. _What's he doing?_ He then took a stance similar to Moku's, and stomped his foot into the ground like an earthbender. For a moment nothing happened. Then all of a sudden Moku cried out in pain.

"Moku!" I shouted, running to her aid as she fell to the ground. I was blocked by two earthbenders. I made a boulder in between them, split it, and ram them into houses in oppsite directions. I felt the vibration of someone behind me. I twisted my foot in an angle and whoever it was foot was pulled into the earth and dragged behind me. I smirked. My victory didn't last though. I suddenly felt drained from energy. My connection to the earth suddenly was gone. I looked around to find the source of whatever just happened. _Where is Jet? _I felt the hilt of a weapon thump my head, and I feel to my knees. I coud barely breath. _What is going on?_

"Grab him!" I heard Jet order. I was then roughly handled by a very tall, and muscled man. I tried to escape, but I barley move. I chose to glare at the person reasponisble, Jet. He had an evil grin, and was hold Moku roughly by the collar. My blood began to boil. _How dare he! He has no right to handle Moku that way!_ I tried to touch the ground, but my guard held me too high from the ground.

"Now if you excuse me, I'm going to take my prize back to my headquaters." Jet announced, turning around. I stared at Moku, she looked so helpless. I squeezed my eyes shut. _Argh! Why can't I do anything?_ **_But you can..._** a mysterious voice said. I suddenly felt the sun on me like a power source. I felt a inner fire within me. Suddenly a flash of memories attacked me like arrows.

_"You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun."_

_"I don't think it's going to be much of a match."_

_"Like I've never done that before."_

_"You're a horrible person!"_

___"The fire nation took my mother away from me!"_

_"I thought you've changed!"_

_"I have changed."_

_"No, we won't!"_

_"My girlfriend turned into the moon."_

_"That's rough buddy."_

_"I'm sorry it has to end this way brother!"_

_"No you're not."_

_"Zuko!!!"_

I'm back.

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**Um, yeah. I also just realized that I was stressing over not being able to right a fight scene, because fight scenes are my weakness... then I realized that it didn't need to be all squished into one chapter! Muwhahahaha! Sorry, but I promise I wont be so late again! I actually have a rough draft of the fight scene, my fight scene helper Sunayoko will help me so it can be MAD awsome! So yeah, hope this answers _some_ of your questions.**

**Things :)**


	3. Author's Note

Hi... yeah it's been about four months? Maybe five? High School is busier than I thought. I'm going through a tough situation right now and I have no motivation to continue this fic. You might hear from me again in a year or so if you're not a fan of One Piece. I'm going to reupload that fic I had... So don't expect much else on this fic for a while. I apoligize for taking so long and disappointing many of you with no chapter.

Things...


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